vineri, 30 decembrie 2016

Iraqi forces are fighting a muddy street battle against jihadists in
southeastern Mosul, facing suicide bombers on the ground and a drone
that can drop explosive charges from above. Baghdad's forces have
overwhelming firepower and numbers in Mosul, but the Islamic State group
has a vast city in which to launch ambushes, plant bombs and try to
make the battle as slow and costly as possible. More than two months
into the operation to retake the city, Iraqi forces have recaptured a
large chunk of east Mosul, but IS still holds parts of it as well as all
of its western side. Read More

WASHINGTON,
Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Though posts on social media in recent weeks suggest
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died, comments by a U.S.
official and reports of his actions in Iraq suggest otherwise. CNN
reported there have been few signs of Baghdadi in months and in recent
weeks there have been unverified social media reports that he was killed
or injured. But on Thursday, an anonymous U.S. official who has access
to the most recent U.S. government reporting on the Islamic State told
CNN that "in the last few weeks we've been aware of some of Baghdadi's
movements." The source said the report of Baghdadi's movements was not a
"real time" report. The U.S. assessment indicated where

UPI

Ronda Rousey is stopped 48 seconds into comeback at UFC 207

Russian personnel vacate compounds in New York and Maryland

In
small convoys of vehicles, Russians departed two countryside vacation
retreats outside Washington and New York City without fanfare on Friday,
ordered out by U.S. President Barack Obama who said the premises were
linked to spying.The Russians were given until noon ET (1700 GMT) on
Friday to vacate the compounds in Centreville, Maryland, and in Upper
Brookville on Long Island in New York state. By early afternoon, trucks,
buses and black sedans with diplomatic license plates had left.“The
premises have been vacated and it’s under control of the government,”
Elliot Conway, the mayor of Upper Brookville, told reporters soon after
noon, when a total of six vehicles had driven away from the Russian
compound there.“They’ve been quiet neighbors,” Conway said, adding he
had never met anyone who lived at the estate set in rolling countryside
about 25 miles (40 km) from Manhattan.In Maryland, about a dozen
vehicles left the sprawling waterfront estate, watched by officials from
the U.S. State Department. Some passengers smiled and waved as they
rode away from the compound, which is located in a wooded farm area with
winding narrow roads.Obama abruptly ordered the closures on Thursday,
saying the compounds had been “used by Russian personnel for
intelligence-related purposes.” It was part of his response, including
the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies, to what U.S. officials have
called cyber interference by Moscow in the 2016 U.S. presidential
election campaign. The Kremlin has denied the hacking allegations.
(Reuters)See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo
News Photo Tumblr.

Keith
Avila, a photographer who also drives for the ridesharing company,
picked up two women and a girl at a home in Sacramento, California on
Monday. As they got into the car, Avila noticed the girl looked young.

People

Inside an ISIS Bunker

BAA’SHIQA,
Iraq—The ISIS fighter’s black-hooded jacket is still hanging on a hook
on the wall, and his sleeping blankets cover the floor tangled with
pillows and abandoned clothes in the now-empty cave. It’s perhaps 50
feet deep down a long dark, claustrophobia-inducing tunnel beneath the
missile-blasted house above. Along the hallway, what looks like an
oxygen tank is connected to fans that once circulated air from the
outside, and the tunnels are lined with electric wires and light bulbs
every few feet. There is a now-empty TV frame on the smooth white walls,
constructed of some sort of wood paneling to insulate the room from the
bare earth. A second room was a few feet down another branch

The Daily Beast

State Dept. 'surprised' by UK backlash to Kerry speech

Washington
(CNN)The State Department was "surprised" Friday after UK Prime
Minister Theresa May's office criticized Secretary of State John Kerry's
speech on the two-state solution, a State Department spokesperson said.
Earlier Friday, a spokesman for May said Kerry, who delivered a major
address on Middle East peace earlier in the week, focused too heavily on
settlements in disputed territory and not enough on terrorism. "We are
surprised by the UK Prime Minister's office statement given that
Secretary Kerry's remarks -- which covered the full range of threats to a
two-state solution, including terrorism, violence, incitement and
settlements -- were in-line with the UK's own longstanding policy and
its vote at the United Nations last week," a spokesperson told CNN.